


the inevitable

by sleepy_snail



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Discussions Of The Past, Earth C (Homestuck), F/F, Fluff, Forests, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, background pale davearasol and mentioned davekat, nb sollux in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 13:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18011447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_snail/pseuds/sleepy_snail
Summary: Aradia and Jade have a quiet forest date and talk about their past, present, and future.





	the inevitable

It’s a nice summer morning that is promising to turn into a nice summer day with all its sun and its endless green everywhere, rich enough to feel full of life the way only summers are in that climate but still light enough to feel comfortably foreign, not at all tropical. You’re leaning out the window like you’re in some silly movie, letting yourself feel the breeze or whatever have you and smiling when Aradia flies right to your window (you were waiting for her, of course you were). 

She smiles back and offers you her hand silently and of course you fly out the window -- in the end of the day, what are god tier powers even for if not ignoring the existence of doors in favor of going out with your girlfriend. It’s still a little chilly outside but you can already guess it’s going to be one of those hot days when everybody stays at home or at least by water. Aradia herself prefers forests -- in fact, you think that’s where the two of you are heading now.

Some days you two just have to be quiet, you think. You have your dates when you go adventuring and figuring out the mysteries of the part of history of Earth C all of you successfully skipped by time traveling, your picnics by the river when you laugh over little nothings and maybe lovingly stare at each other a little, your lazy days when you just do your own things in each other’s presence, days when you inevitably end up covered in mud and probably surrounded by little hearts flying around your head just by looking at Aradia who’s excited about a skeleton she just found. You have your museum dates (she will never stop being absolutely mesmerized by the concept of dinosaurs), your double dates with Dave and Karkat (which are a lot of fun except for when there are diamonds around Dave’s head when he looks at Aradia (do you also look that smitten?) AND when they expose the two of you to their horrendous eating habits (no-one asked you, Karkat!!)) and a of other things you do together, loud and so happy it’s overwhelming sometimes.

And then you have this -- quietly flying somewhere, it’s Aradia’s turn to pick so you don’t know, holding hands and not asking questions. You mostly end up just walking through a forest staring at how beautiful life always is and not saying much or sitting under some big old tree holding hands and reading. You love those days, really, you love sharing the peaceful moments with her as much as you love the sudden conversations you have on those days about your past and present and future and the infinity around you.

You don’t offer to teleport you because Aradia never picks places too far away (or maybe you do your space thing accidentally, you never know), and besides, what’s a little flying when the world’s so beautiful beneath you and you couldn’t have wished for better company. You look at Aradia and wow she’s stunning even with the wind in her face and leaves stuck in her hair for some reason. You carefully reach for them and pick them out one by one and Aradia smiles fondly at you.

“Sollux says they once found a still alive little bird in there, love”. she says. “Not to say I don’t appreciate the effort…”

“Then maybe it was a sign they should have intervened more often!” you reply. “You don’t just let your moirail walk around with random animals in their hair, do you?”

“It depends on the amount of animals”. she responds seriously and you can’t help but snort at the image of the whole forest fauna just finding its way out of Aradia’s hair and a helpless Sollux looking at that with a “what the fuck” expression. “Besides, if not for them, it would’ve been worse, really.”

You nod in agreement to that -- bashing Sollux and their moirailegence wasn’t your intent at all -- and make a mental note to ask them about the bird incident later. You have a feeling there’s more to it than Aradia would just tell you, anyway.

And then there’s the forest, big and colorfully green beneath you, and you carefully land and let Aradia show you the way around the place. You aren’t actually sure she’s been there before because you haven’t, but she seems to know the way somewhere or just not care enough which part of the forest to go to. And so you follow her, throwing your head back to look at the branches above you and the treetops that seem to be far away. You love how it’s quiet without actually being quiet, how there’s always sound yet it’s undisturbing. That, and how forests are their own world and now there’s nothing but you and Aradia and the treetops in the sky and all the life of the place. Looking at the still foreign pines reaching for the sky and their needles on the ground, you suddenly think you don’t miss the tropical forest of your island at all. 

You don’t know when you stop; not because time stops existing, but because it stops mattering. Besides, it’s always been Aradia’s thing more than yours anyway. But you do stop eventually, like you always do, even though neither of you had a destination in mind. It’s a clearing, a nice spot, and you both stay there for a while watching the sun and the shadows of the trees and the sounds of the forest and possibly a squirrel, at least you think that’s one. Everything’s calm and quiet and you suddenly catch yourself smiling. You missed that.

And then Aradia looks at you seriously and then turns her eyes to the trees again. 

“You know what I didn’t know before the game but I do now?” she asks you suddenly.

“Mmm?”

“Nothing is inevitable”, she says simply and matter-of-factly. 

“Nothing?” you ask.

“Nothing”, she repeats. “I used to believe that some things were just meant to happen and there was no way around it, that I had some purpose I needed to fulfil. When I was dead it was almost like there was nothing but things I had to do because I was meant to and my feelings about that didn’t really matter. And then I was finally alive and free but… not really?”

“I loved doing what I could for the dead kids, I did. I was happier than ever before and it was more than I even wished for but it felt like something I had to do. Something I wished others would do for me, maybe, something I found necessary and needed. It was my decision and it was mindblowing, you know? But I can’t say I did it for my enjoyment and in the end I was still stuck doing the necessary because no-one else would.”

You look at her and you know what she’s talking about. The future, the inevitable, the big picture. Things that didn’t matter as long as the goal was accomplished except they actually did matter. Except for you they actually mattered more than the goal and the world and the big picture. Things that had to happen. Sacrifices you had to make because there was no other way around. Space in all its eternity standing in the way of your happiness, so much bigger, so much more important. 

It must show on your face because she goes on, oh does she go on.

“And when everything was ending, it almost felt good? I never expected a happy ending, I mean, I never expected a happy ending since around the time I died. Who cared around me when there was the apocalypse, the game, the creation of a new universe. But there we were, me and Sollux, watching everything get destroyed, and it was better than I could imagine. I had a moirail I could hold as the world ended, how cool is that?”

“But then we were here, Jade, then we were suddenly here, pulled into that new world with a lot of effort and fancy god tier magic, and suddenly there was nothing I had to do at all? That was hard to wrap my head around, but I think I’m getting to it.” she smiles. 

“And you know what? Fuck the inevitable.” she pauses for a moment. “I think… I think I love you and it’s not because I have to. Or because it’s necessary. Or because I want someone to love me. It wasn’t inevitable at all and I like it.”

“I love you, Jade, and I love you because I want to.” she says and you think you might actually explode. It’s not just how unnecessarily fast your heart is beating or how your cheeks are hot or any other simple feeling, it’s overwhelming love and pity and you think you might die on the spot but you really, really, really don’t want to.

“I love you too.” you say, absolutely meaning it. Oh do you love her, do you love everything about her. How she beams when she sees well preserved skeletons. How it’s like she’s new to emotions and every time she feels something, she feels it with every fibre of her being. How seeing her excited makes everything you’ve been through worth it. How no matter what happened, how despite everything, despite dying and being brought back and being made to do things she’s still alive here, with you, still trying and living and loving and feeling. Oh, do you love Aradia Megido.

“I mean, I know what it’s like. Having to care about the big picture and forgetting yourself and your friends because it’s unimportant if you get to the destination right, I know! That was my whole deal! And it hurt me and still does and I’m still growing past it and living despite it and I love you too. Not because of the big picture, but because I want it. You. You’re more important than Space.” you say and it might be incoherent and messy but it’s true.

And there you are, standing in a forest surrounded by foreign trees reaching for the sky, suddenly holding her as if you always have. You think you couldn’t have possibly wished for anything better, but considering what Aradia just said, it doesn’t sound like a lot. Instead, you think that’s unimportant. What’s important is you, and her, holding each other.

“You know what this sounded like?” you suddenly say into her shoulder almost giggling at the thought.

“Mmm?”

“Some sort of wedding speech? We exchange those and then promise to share our happiness and our suffering and then we’re asked, oh Jade Harley, do you take Aradia Megido to be your lawfully wedded wife or something like that, and I say “I do”, and then you’re asked, oh Aradia Megido, do you want Jade Harley to be your lawfully wedded wife, and you say…”

“I do.” she smiles into your shoulder, but something tells you she might as well be serious.

“Yes, like that. And then we’re officially married, I think? And they say “you might now kiss the bride” although that’s a little confusing… I don’t know a lot about weddings.” you finally admit.

“Maybe it’d be fun to get married sometime,” she says like it’s totally nothing. “I mean, if weddings are at least half as fun as funerals, it’d be worth it”.

“I love you” is all you can respond with.

Later, you teleport you both to your house and you spend the rest of the day away from the heat, sitting together talking about sweet nothings and beautiful things. You might spend some time in your garden when it gets a little cooler, you think, you know Aradia loves it as much as you do. Your name is Jade Harley, you’re totally in love, and you know you can say from the bottom of your heart: fuck the inevitable.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) rated this as teen and up because there's the fuck word, but This Is Literally My First Fic so tell me if i shouldn't have (same goes for tag usage tbh)  
> 2) nb sollux is best sollux and pale davearasol wasn't supposed to be there originally but i love them and it shows  
> 3) dave and karkat's eating habits are actually getting better, but jade is a little annoyed at them for being idiots (rightfully so)  
> 4) me and jade both have a very vague idea of what weddings are like (also this takes place before Rose and Kanaya’s wedding apparently)  
> 5) also english is my second language and it shows


End file.
